The flying of kites is a popular pastime for people of all ages. The kite string is generally stored on some type of spool or stick and is payed out to let the kite fly higher and is wound in to bring the kite back in. Various types of mechanical devices have been used for this purpose. See, for example, the reels, spools, and bobbins featured at pages 77 to 79 of the 1989 Into The Wind Kite Catalog.
Manually winding in a kite string which is out a great distance is a tedious task. Power-driven kite reels have been disclosed to speed up and ease this task. Such reels are disclosed in Williamson, U.S. Pat. 3,202,378, issued Aug. 24, 1965; Stanton, U.S. Pat. 3,593,940, issued Jul. 20, 1971; and Persichini, U.S. Pat. 3,822,839, issued Jul. 9, 1974. Each of these reels contains flashlight-type batteries, an electric motor, and gear means to power a rotating spool. None of the reels has enjoyed commercial success and it is not hard to understand why.
First of all, each of these power-driven reels is relatively complicated mechanically and would, accordingly, be relatively expensive. While money is no object to some kite flyers, the vast majority of kite flyers are children and their parents who fly kites on an infrequent basis and do not want to make a large financial investment in the hobby. Secondly, each of these reels is designed and suited only for power-driven operation. If, for example, the reel malfunctions or the batteries wear out, the reel is virtually useless.
Accordingly, there is a demand for a kite string reel which is inexpensive and can be used either manually or power-driven.